Letter XL.

St. Ambrose begs Theodosius to listen to him, as he
cannot be silent without great risk to both. He points out that
Theodosius though God-fearing may be led astray, and points out that
his decision respecting the restoration of the Jewish synagogue is full
of peril, exposing the bishop to the danger of either acting against
the truth or of death. The case of Julian is referred to, and the
reasons given for the imperial rescript are met, especially by the plea
that the Jews had burnt many churches. St. Ambrose touches on the
temple of the Valentinians, whom he declares to be worse than heathen,
and points out what a door would be opened to the calumnies of the Jews
and a triumph over Christ Himself. The Emperor is lastly warned
by the example of Maximus not to take the part of Jews or heretics, and
is urged to clemency.

Ambrose, Bishop, to the most
clement prince, and blessed Emperor, Theodosius the Augustus.

1. I am continually harassed by almost incessant
cares, most blessed Emperor, but I have never been in such anxiety as
at present, since I see that I must take heed that there be nothing
which may be ascribed to me savouring even of sacrilege. And so I
entreat you to listen with patience to what I say. For, if I am
unworthy to be heard by you, I am unworthy to offer for you, who have
been entrusted by you with your vows and prayers. Will you not
yourself hear him whom you wish to be heard for you? Will you not
hear him pleading his own cause whom you have heard for others?
And do you not fear for your own decision, lest by thinking him
unworthy to be heard by you, you make him unworthy to be heard for
you?

2. But it is neither the part of an emperor
to refuse liberty of speech, nor of a priest not to say what he
thinks. For there is nothing in you emperors so popular and so
estimable as to appreciate freedom in those even who are in subjection
to you by military obedience. For this is the difference between
good and bad princes, that the good love liberty, the bad
slavery. And there is nothing in a priest so full of peril as
regards God, or so base in the opinion of men, as not freely to declare
what he thinks. For it is written: “I spoke of Thy
testimonies before kings, and was not ashamed;”35503550Ps. cxix.
[cxviii.] 46. and in another place: “Son of
man, I have set Thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, in
order,” it is said, “that if the righteous doth turn from
his righteousness, and commit iniquity, because thou hast not given him
warning,” that is, hast not told him what to guard against,
“the memory of his righteousness shall not be retained, and I
will require his blood at thine hand. But if thou warn the
righteous that he sin not, and he doth not sin, the righteous shall
surely live because thou hast warned him, and thou shalt deliver thy
soul.”35513551Ezek. iii. 17, 20, 21.

3. I had rather then, O Emperor, have fellowship
with you in good than in evil, and therefore the silence of the priest
ought to displease your Clemency, and his freedom to please you.
For you are involved in the risk of my silence, but are aided by the
benefit of my freedom. I am not, then, officiously intruding in
things where I ought not, nor interfering in the affairs of
others. I am obeying the commands of God. And I do this
first of all out of love for you, good-will toward you, and desire of
preserving your well-doing. If I am not believed in this, or am
forbidden to act on this feeling, I speak in very truth for fear of
offending God. For if my peril would set you free, I would
patiently offer myself for you, though not willingly, for I had rather
that without my peril you might be acceptable to God and
glorious. But if the guilt of silence and dissimulation on my
part would both weigh me down and not set you free, I had
441rather that you should think me too
importunate, than useless and base. Since it is written, as the
holy Apostle Paul says, whose teaching you cannot controvert:
“Be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke
with all patience and doctrine.”355235522 Tim. iv. 2.

4. We, then, also have One Whom it is even
more perilous to displease, especially since even emperors are not
displeased when every one discharges his own office, and you patiently
listen to every one making suggestions in his own sphere, nay, you
rebuke him if he act not according to the order of his service.
Can this, then, seem to you offensive in priests, which you willingly
accept from those who serve you; since we speak not what we wish, but
what we are bidden? For you know the passage: “When
ye shall stand before kings and rulers, take no thought what ye shall
speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak; for
it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father Who speaketh in
you.”35533553 S. Matt. x. 19, 20. And if I
were speaking in state causes, although justice must be observed even
in them, I should not feel such dread if I were not listened to, but in
the cause of God whom will you listen to, if not to the priest, at
whose greater peril sin is committed? Who will dare to tell you
the truth if the priest dare not?

5. I know that you are Godfearing, merciful,
gentle, and calm, having the faith and fear of God at heart, but often
some things escape our notice. “Some have a zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge.”35543554Rom. x. 2. And I think that we ought to take
care lest this also come upon faithful souls. I know your piety
towards God, your lenity towards men, I myself am bound by the benefits
of your favour. And therefore I fear the more, I am the more
anxious; lest even you condemn me hereafter by your own judgment,
because through my want of openness or my flattery you should not have
avoided some fault. If I saw that you sinned against me, I ought
not to keep silence, for it is written: “If thy brother sin
against thee, rebuke him at first, then chide him sharply before two or
three witnesses. If he will not hear thee, tell the
Church.”35553555 S. Matt. xviii. 15 ff. Shall I,
then, keep silence in the cause of God? Let us, then, consider
what I have to fear.

6. A report was made by the military Count of the
East that a synagogue had been burnt, and that this was done at the
instigation of the Bishop. You gave command that the others
should be punished, and the synagogue be rebuilt by the Bishop
himself. I do not urge that the Bishop’s account ought to
have been waited for, for priests are the calmers of disturbances, and
anxious for peace, except when even they are moved by some offence
against God, or insult to the Church. Let us suppose that that
Bishop was too eager in the matter of burning the synagogue, and too
timid at the judgment-seat, are not you afraid, O Emperor, lest he
comply with your sentence, lest he fail in his faith?

7. Are you not also afraid, lest, which will
happen, he oppose your Count with a refusal? He will then be
obliged to make him either an apostate35563556Prævaricator, in a civil case, one who acts collusively
with the defendant, and betrays the other side. Hence in
ecclesiastical Latin the word came to mean Apostate.
or a martyr, either of these alien to the times, either of them
equivalent to persecution, if he be compelled either to apostatize or
to undergo martyrdom. You see in what direction the issue of the
matter inclines. If you think the Bishop firm, guard against
making a martyr of a firm man; if you think him vacillating, avoid
causing the fall of one who is frail. For he has a heavy
responsibility who has caused the weak to fall.

8. Having, then, thus stated the two sides
of the matter, suppose that the said Bishop says that he himself
kindled the fire,35573557 A Canon [60]
of the Council of Elvira, a.d. 305 or 6, lays
down that if any one is killed for breaking idols, he is not to be
reckoned as a martyr, but perhaps St. Ambrose here considers the
burning of the synagogue as a retaliation for the destruction of
churches. collected the
crowd, gathered the people together, in order not to lose an
opportunity of martyrdom, and instead of the weak to put forward a
stronger athlete. O happy falsehood, whereby one gains for others
acquittal, for himself grace! This it is, O Emperor, which I,
too, have requested, that you would rather take vengeance on me, and if
you consider this a crime, would attribute it to me. Why order
judgment against one who is absent? You have the guilty man
present, you hear his confession. I declare that I set fire to
the synagogue, or at least that I ordered those who did it, that there
might not be a place where Christ was denied. If it be objected
to me that I did not set the synagogue on fire here, I answer, it began
to be burnt by the judgment of God, and my work came to an end.
And if the very truth be asked, I was the more slack because I did not
expect that it would be punished. Why should I do that
442which as it was unavenged would
also be without reward? These words hurt modesty but recall
grace, lest that be done whereby an offence against God most High may
be committed.

9. But let it be granted that no one will cite the
Bishop to the performance of this task, for I have asked this of your
Clemency, and although I have not yet read that this edict is revoked,
let us notwithstanding assume that it is revoked. What if others
more timid offer that the synagogue be restored at their cost; or that
the Count, having found this previously determined, himself orders it
to be rebuilt out of the funds of Christians? You, O Emperor,
will have an apostate Count, and to him will you entrust the victorious
standards? Will you entrust the labarum, consecrated as it is by
the Name of Christ, to one who restores the synagogue which knows not
Christ? Order the labarum to be carried into the synagogue, and
let us see if they do not resist.

10. Shall, then, a place be made for the unbelief
of the Jews out of the spoils of the Church, and shall the patrimony,
which by the favour of Christ has been gained for Christians, be
transferred to the treasuries of unbelievers? We read that of old
temples were built for idols of the plunder taken from Cimbri, and the
spoils of other enemies. Shall the Jews write this inscription on
the front of their synagogue: “The temple of impiety,
erected from the plunder of Christians”?

11. But, perhaps, the cause of discipline moves
you, O Emperor. Which, then, is of greater importance, the show
of discipline or the cause of religion? It is needful that
judgment should yield to religion.

12. Have you not heard, O Emperor, how, when
Julian had commanded that the temple of Jerusalem should be restored,
those who were clearing the rubbish were consumed by fire?35583558 The miracles of
this nature which prevented the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple are
mentioned by the usual ecclesiastical historians, and confirmed by the
heathen Ammianus Marcellinus, XXIII. I. Will you not beware lest this
happen now again? For you ought not to have commanded what Julian
commanded.

13. But what is your motive? Is it because a
public building of whatever kind has been burnt, or because it was a
synagogue? If you are moved by the burning of a building of no
importance (for what could there be in so mean a town?), do you not
remember, O Emperor, how many prefects’ houses have been burnt at
Rome, and no one inflicted punishment for it? And, in truth, if
any emperor had desired to punish the deed sharply, he would have
injured the cause of him who had suffered so great a loss. Which,
then, is more fitting, that a fire in some part of the buildings of
Callinicum, or of the city of Rome, should be punished, if indeed it
were right at all? At Constantinople lately, the house of the
bishop was burnt and your Clemency’s son interceded with his
father, praying that you would not avenge the insult offered to him,
that is, to the son of the emperor, and the burning of the episcopal
house. Do you not consider, O Emperor, that if you were to order
this deed to be punished, he would again intervene against the
punishment? That favour was, however, fittingly obtained by the
son from the father, for it was worthy of him first to forgive the
injury done to himself. That was a good division in the
distribution of favour, that the son should be entreated for his own
loss, the father for that of the son. Here there is nothing for
you to keep back for your son. Take heed, then, lest you derogate
aught from God.

14. There is, then, no adequate cause for
such a commotion, that the people should be so severely punished for
the burning of a building, and much less since it is the burning of a
synagogue, a home of unbelief, a house of impiety, a receptacle of
folly, which God Himself has condemned. For thus we read, where
the Lord our God speaks by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah:
“And I will do to this house, which is called by My Name, wherein
ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as
I have done to Shiloh, and I will cast you forth from My sight, as I
cast forth your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim. And do not
thou pray for that people, and do not thou ask mercy for them, and do
not come near Me on their behalf, for I will not hear thee. Or
seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah?”35593559Jer. vii. 14. God forbids intercession to be made
for those.

15. And certainly, if I were pleading according to
the law of nations, I could tell how many of the Church’s
basilicas the Jews burnt in the time of the Emperor Julian: two
at Damascus, one of which is scarcely now repaired, and this at the
cost of the Church, not of the Synagogue; the other basilica still is a
rough mass of shapeless ruins. Basilicas were burnt at Gaza,
Ascalon, Berytus, and in almost every place in those parts, and no one
demanded
443punishment. And at
Alexandria a basilica was burnt by heathen and Jews, which surpassed
all the rest. The Church was not avenged, shall the Synagogue be
so?

16. Shall, then, the burning of the temple of the
Valentinians be also avenged? But what is but a temple in which
is a gathering of heathen? Although the heathen invoke twelve
gods, the Valentinians worship thirty-two Æons whom they call
gods. And I have found out concerning these also that it is
reported and ordered that some monks should be punished, who, when the
Valentinians were stopping the road on which, according to custom and
ancient use, they were singing psalms as they went to celebrate the
festival of the Maccabees, enraged by their insolence, burnt their
hurriedly-built temple in some country village.

17. How many have to offer themselves to such a
choice, when they remember that in the time of Julian, he who threw
down an altar, and disturbed a sacrifice, was condemned by the judge
and suffered martyrdom? And so the judge who heard him was never
esteemed other than a prosecutor, for no one thought him worthy of
being associated with, or of a kiss. And if he were not now dead,
I should fear, O Emperor, that you would take vengeance on him,
although he escaped not the vengeance of heaven, outliving his own
heir.

18. But it is related that the judge was ordered
to take cognizance of the matter, and that it was written that he ought
not to have reported the deed, but to have punished it, and that the
money chests which had been taken away should be demanded. I will
omit other matters. The buildings of our churches were burnt by
the Jews, and nothing was restored, nothing was asked back, nothing
demanded. But what could the Synagogue have possessed in a far
distant town, when the whole of what there is there is not much; there
is nothing of value, and no abundance? And what then could the
scheming Jews lose by the fire? These are artifices of the Jews
who wish to calumniate us, that because of their complaints, an
extraordinary military inquiry may be ordered, and a soldier sent, who
will, perhaps, say what one said once here, O Emperor, before your
accession: “How will Christ be able to help us who fight
for the Jews against Christ, who are sent to avenge the Jews?
They have destroyed their own armies, and wish to destroy
ours.”

19. Further, into what calumnies will they not
break out, who by false witness calumniated even Christ? Into
what calumnies will not men break out who are liars, even in things
belonging to God? Whom will they not say to have been the
instigators of that sedition? Whom will they not assail, even of
those whom they recognize not, that may gaze upon the numberless ranks
of Christians in chains, that they may see the necks of the faithful
people bowed in captivity, that the servants of God may be concealed in
darkness, may be beheaded, given over to the fire, delivered to the
mines, that their sufferings may not quickly pass away?

20. Will you give this triumph over the Church of
God to the Jews? this trophy over Christ’s people, this
exultation, O Emperor, to the unbelievers? this rejoicing to the
Synagogue, this sorrow to the Church? The people of the Jews will
set this solemnity amongst their feast-days, and will doubtless number
it amongst those on which they triumphed either over the Amorites, or
the Canaanites, or were delivered from the hand of Pharaoh, King of
Egypt, or of Nebuchodonosor, King of Babylon. They will add this
solemnity, in memory of their having triumphed over the people of
Christ.

21. And whereas they deny that they themselves are
bound by the Roman laws, and repute those laws as criminal, yet now
they think that they ought to be avenged, as it were, by the Roman
laws. Where were those laws when they themselves set fire to the
roofs of the sacred basilicas? If Julian did not avenge the
Church because he was an apostate, will you, O Emperor, avenge the
injury done to the Synagogue, because you are a Christian?

22. And what will Christ say to you
afterwards? Do you not remember what He said by the prophet
Nathan to holy David?356035602 Sam. [2
Kings] vii. 8. “I
have chosen thee the youngest of thy brethren, and from a private man
have made thee emperor. I have placed of the fruit of thy seed on
the imperial throne. I have made barbarous nations subject unto
thee, I have given thee peace, I have delivered thine enemy captive
into thy power. Thou hadst no corn for provision for thine army,
I opened to thee the gates, I opened to thee their stores by the hand
of the enemies themselves. Thy enemies gave to thee their
provisions which they had prepared for themselves. I troubled the
counsels of thy enemy, so that he made himself bare. I so
fettered the usurper of the empire himself and bound his mind, that
whilst he still had means of
444escape, yet with all belonging to him, as
though for fear lest any should escape thee, he shut himself in.
His officer and forces on the other element,35613561 Referring to the
fleet under Andragathius, which Maximus had prepared expecting that
Theodosius would come by sea.
whom before I had scattered, that they might not join to fight against
thee, I brought together again to complete thy victory. Thy army,
gathered together from many unsubdued nations, I bade keep faith,
tranquillity, and concord as if of one nation. When there was the
greatest danger lest the perfidious designs of the barbarians should
penetrate the Alps, I conferred victory on thee within the very wall of
the Alps, that thou mightest conquer without loss. Thus, then, I
caused thee to triumph over thy enemy, and thou givest My enemies a
triumph over My people.”

23. Is it not on this account that Maximus was
forsaken, who, before the days of the expedition, hearing that a
synagogue had been burnt in Rome, had sent an edict to Rome, as if he
were the upholder of public order? Wherefore the Christian people
said, No good is in store for him. That king has become a Jew, we
have heard of him as a defender of order, and Christ, Who died for
sinners, soon tested him. If this was said of words, what will be
said of punishment? And then at once he was overcome by the
Franks and the Saxons, in Sicily, at Siscia, at Petavio, in a word
everywhere. What has the believer in common with the
unbeliever? The instances of his unbelief ought to be done away
with together with the unbeliever himself. That which injured
him, that wherein he who was conquered offended, the conqueror ought
not to follow but to condemn.

24. I have, then, recounted these things not
as to one who is ungrateful, but have enumerated them as rightly
bestowed, in order that, warned by them, you, to whom more has been
given, may love more. When Simon answered in these words the Lord
Jesus said: “Thou hast judged rightly.”35623562 S. Luke vii. 43. And straightway turning to the
woman who anointed His feet with ointment, setting forth a type of the
Church, He said to Simon: “Wherefore I say unto thee, her
sins which are many are forgiven, since she loved much. But he to
whom less is forgiven loveth less.”35633563 S. Luke vii. 47. This is the woman who entered
into the house of the Pharisee, and cast off the Jew, but gained
Christ. For the Church shut out the Synagogue, why is it now
again attempted that in the servant of Christ the Synagogue should
exclude the Church from the bosom of faith, from the house of
Christ?

25. I have brought these matters together in this
address, O Emperor, out of love and zeal for you. For I owe it to
your kindnesses (whereby, at my request, you have liberated many from
exile, from prison, from the extreme penalty of death) that I should
not fear even offending your feelings for the sake of your own
salvation (no one has greater confidence than he who loves from his
heart, certainly no one ought to injure him who takes thought for him);
that I may not lose in one moment that favour granted to every priest
and received by me for so many years; and yet it is not the loss of
favour which I deprecate but the peril to salvation.

26. And yet how great a thing it is, O
Emperor, that you should not think it necessary to enquire or to punish
in regard to a matter as to which up to this day no one has enquired,
no one has ever inflicted punishment. It is a serious matter to
endanger your salvation for the Jews. When Gideon35643564Judg. vi. 31, very loosely. had slain the sacred calf, the heathen
said, The gods will themselves avenge the injury done to them.
Who is to avenge the Synagogue? Christ, Whom they slew, Whom they
denied? Will God the Father avenge those who do not receive the
Father, since they have not received the Son? Who is to avenge
the heresy of the Valentinians? How can your piety avenge them,
seeing it has commanded them to be excluded, and denied them permission
to meet together? If I set before you Josiah as a king approved
of God, will you condemn that in them which was approved in
him?356535652 [4] Kings
xxii. 1 ff.

27. But at any rate if too little confidence is
placed in me, command the presence of those bishops whom you think fit,
let it be discussed, O Emperor, what ought to be done without injury to
the faith. If you consult your officers concerning pecuniary
causes, how much more just is it that you should consult the priests of
God in the cause of religion.

28. Let your Clemency consider from how many
plotters, how many spies the Church suffers. If they come upon a
slight crack, they plant a dart in it. I speak after the manner
of men, but God is feared more than men, Who is rightly set before even
emperors. If any one thinks it right that deference should be
paid to a friend, a parent, or a neighbour, I am right in judging that
deference should be paid to God,
445and that He should be preferred to all.
Consult, O Emperor, your own advantage, or suffer me to consult
mine.

29. What shall I answer hereafter, if it be
discovered that, by authority given from this place, Christians have
been slain by the sword, or by clubs, or thongs knotted with
lead? How shall I explain such a fact? How shall I excuse
it to those bishops, who now mourn bitterly because some, who have
discharged the office of the priesthood for thirty and many more years,
or other ministers of the Church, are withdrawn from their sacred
office, and set to discharge municipal duties?35663566 Cf.
Ep. XVIII. 13, 14. For if they who war for you serve
for a stated time of service, how much more ought you to consider those
who war for God. How, I say, shall I excuse this to the bishops,
who make complaint concerning the clergy, and write that the Churches
are wasted by a serious attack upon them?

30. I was desirous that this should come to the
knowledge of your Clemency. You will, when it pleases you,
vouchsafe to consider and give order according to your will, but
exclude and cast out that which troubles me, and troubles me
rightly. You do yourself whatever you order to be done, even if
he, your officer, do not do it. I much prefer that you should be
merciful, than that he should not do what he has been ordered.

31. You have those35673567i.e. his
children. for whom you ought yet to invite and to
merit the mercy of the Lord in regard to the Roman Empire; you have
those for whom you hope even more than for yourself; let the grace of
God for them, let their salvation appeal to you in these words of
mine. I fear that you may commit your cause to the judgment of
others. Everything is still unprejudiced before you. On
this point I pledge myself to our God for you, do not fear your
oath.35683568 It is
possible that keeping an oath may be contrary to duty. Cf.
Off. Min. I. 264. Is it possible that that should
displease God which is amended for His honour? You need not alter
anything in that letter, whether it be sent or is not yet sent.
Order another to be written, which shall be full of faith, full of
piety. For you it is possible to change for the better, for me it
is not possible to hide the truth.

32. You forgave the Antiochians the insult
offered to you;35693569 In the year
before this the people of Antioch, enraged at new taxation, rose and
destroyed the statues of the Emperor and Empress. This was the
occasion on which St. Chrysostom preached the Homilies on the
Statues. Theodosius, at first greatly enraged, subsequently
pardoned the people. Cf. St. Chrys. Hom. 20 ad
Antioch. you have
recalled the daughters of your enemy, and given them to be brought up
by a relative; you sent sums of money to the mother of your enemy from
your own treasury. This so great piety, this so great faith
towards God, will be darkened by this deed. Do not you, then, I
entreat, who spared enemies in arms, and preserved your adversaries,
think that Christians ought to be punished with such
eagerness.

33. And now, O Emperor, I beg you not to
disdain to hear me who am in fear both for yourself and for myself, for
it is the voice of a Saint which says: “Wherefore was I
made to see the misery of my people?”357035701 Macc. ii. 7.
that I should commit an offence against God. I, indeed, have done
what could be done consistently with honour to you, that you might
rather listen to me in the palace, lest, if it were necessary, you
should listen to me in the Church.

3556Prævaricator, in a civil case, one who acts collusively
with the defendant, and betrays the other side. Hence in
ecclesiastical Latin the word came to mean Apostate.

3557 A Canon [60]
of the Council of Elvira, a.d. 305 or 6, lays
down that if any one is killed for breaking idols, he is not to be
reckoned as a martyr, but perhaps St. Ambrose here considers the
burning of the synagogue as a retaliation for the destruction of
churches.

3558 The miracles of
this nature which prevented the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple are
mentioned by the usual ecclesiastical historians, and confirmed by the
heathen Ammianus Marcellinus, XXIII. I.

3568 It is
possible that keeping an oath may be contrary to duty. Cf.
Off. Min. I. 264.

3569 In the year
before this the people of Antioch, enraged at new taxation, rose and
destroyed the statues of the Emperor and Empress. This was the
occasion on which St. Chrysostom preached the Homilies on the
Statues. Theodosius, at first greatly enraged, subsequently
pardoned the people. Cf. St. Chrys. Hom. 20 ad
Antioch.